Alcohol: From five beers, it becomes critical: more than 100 grams of alcohol per week increases the risk of death

Cool enjoyment: how can a lot of beer be carefree a week?

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Even though the myth of a good glbad of wine persists: alcohol has no health benefits – quite the opposite. Those who consume too much can even get sick. Alcohol has been shown to increase the risk of certain types of cancer and can also damage the brain. In addition, a link with cardiovascular disease is discussed again and again.

Different limits

But how much is too much? This question is still controversial. This is demonstrated, for example, by the fact that the maximum recommended levels of alcohol consumption vary considerably from one country to another. To achieve a unified result, an international team of researchers led by Angela Wood of the University of Cambridge addressed this topic.

The researchers wanted to define a threshold from which alcohol consumption would have the least impact on the risk of death and risk to cardiovascular disease. For this, they evaluated the data of 599,912 people. The subjects came from 19 different high-income countries, did not suffer from heart disease at the beginning of the study and were divided into different groups according to their individual consumption of alcohol.

Years of lost life

What would be the frequency in the different groups? Over the next nine years to death or cardiovascular disease come? The result: Overall, 40,310 participants in the study died during the observation period. This revealed a link between alcohol consumption and the risk of death, as reported by scientists. The more we drank alcohol, the higher the risk of death was high – but only an amount of 100 grams of alcohol per week. This corresponds for example to five 0.5-liter bottles of beer

. Specifically, the life expectancy of 40-year-olds with alcohol consumption between 100 and 200 was shorter than that of those aged who drank less than 100 grams of alcohol a week Grams a week for about six months. People who drank between 200 and 350 grams of alcohol actually lost their lives one to two years – and subjects who consumed more than 350 grams of alcohol a week died four to five years earlier.

Stroke and Co

Wood and his colleagues also found a connection with cardiovascular disease: the more participants drank alcohol each week, the higher the risk of stroke. For every 100 grams of alcohol they drank more than a week, the risk increased by 14 percent. Similarly, there was a risk of heart failure and coronary heart disease. For these conditions, with each additional 100 grams per week, the risk increased by nine and six percent.

Especially the effect of alcohol consumption on the risk of dying of hypertension. Here, scientists calculated a 24% higher risk if people drank 100 grams of alcohol a week more. Interestingly, scientists have come to heart attack with opposite results. Here, alcohol consumption even seemed to have a positive effect.

Less Than Previously Recommended

Overall, however, it is clear to researchers that more than 100 grams of alcohol per week are detrimental to your health and increase the risk of dying. I liked beer, wine or cognac. The maximum amount now defined is therefore lower than in most countries up to now recommended as a limit, as they point out.

For comparison: In Portugal, a man can safely approve 40 grams of alcohol a day, a woman in Italy. In France, 30 grams per day is the limit for safe enjoyment for both bades. In Germany, on the other hand, one is a little more cautious: according to the recommendation, women are allowed to drink up to twelve grams of alcohol a day, men twice as much. At least for the masters of creation, therefore, in this country is a limit that is above the limit now published. (Lancet, 2018, doi: 10.1016 / S0140-6736 (18) 30134-X)